There’s something that I’ve always found funny about sports culture in our world. It seems as if no one actually remembers how, when or they became fans of ‘their’ teams. Maybe they saw a team’s jerseys all around them. Then it slowly ingratiated into their minds, that watching the game on Sunday is just a part of life. I don’t know many people who would complain or ask questions as to why they’re relaxing on their couch. With nice food and a cold beer every weekend. I suppose it’s fair to say that very rarely do people actually become sports fans on their own. Rather they’re born into it and raised on the path to fandom. My path to fandom was quite different. It is because of this that I am able to remember and share my story today.
Sundays were a big deal in the house for my parents, but I dreaded it. For years Sunday was just the day that my parents would hog the living room TV (the big TV). To watch some stupid game and it drove me nuts. I was not a sports fan by any means. I’d would rather watched Star Wars Attack of the Clones (the really bad one) five times on a Sunday. Before I would go down and watch the game with my animated parents. The occasional “TOUCHDOWN” scream echoing from downstairs was enough to make my blood boil. As time passed I became more lenient and tolerant towards my parents’ antics. By 2014 my boredom and hatred had all but vanished. I remember it being about two months into the season. There was a TON of buzz surrounding the Eagles. Nick Foles was coming off his 27:2 (touchdowns/interceptions) season and the team was off to a tremendous 5-1 start. The bye week passed and they were set to take on the Arizona Cardinals, Arizona was also off to a 5-1 start. It was a close game midway through the third quarter when I did something I had never done before: I sat down with my parents and watched the game. There was something there. Something drawing me to this game. I had to see what it was. It was a tight contest. Philly and Arizona traded blows on both sides of the ball. The game came down to the very last play of the very last drive. It was the sort of thing that usually only happens in Disney movies. The Eagles were down by four. Yet were in scoring range with 0:01 left on the clock; a touchdown wins it. The tension in my living room was palpable. After what felt like an eternity the ball was finally snapped. On that play the Eagles offensive line had more holes in it than a piece of swiss cheese. The second the ball was snapped Nick Foles dropped back to pass. He is backpedaling, and backpedaling, and backpedaling until the jig was up. The Arizona defense is closing in and he has to throw. The ball left his hand. It sailed clear to the back corner of the end zone. Out of nowhere comes Jordan Matthews. Matthews takes flight and snagged the ball with a defender bearing down on him. With the ball locked into his chest, he absorbs a big hit from the defender, knocking him out of bounds. Everyone in my living room, and probably every living room in Philadelphia stood to their feet in anticipation. They waited for the referee to make the call. Just as quickly as we all stood. We all dropped right back onto the couch when the ref waved his arms to signal an incompletion. It was a demoralizing defeat. But it had happened. On the larger scale of things it was just a small battle in a war I didn’t even realize I was a part of. That Sunday would be my first, the first of many. That I would spend on my living room couch watching the Eagles with my parents. Although the loss was a tough pill to swallow at the time. I am grateful. It prepared me for what the rest of my life as an Eagles fan would be like. It was a loss on the field, but one of my family’s biggest victories, In years to come we had something to bond over. Something that we could all bond over every week. The ‘it’ that had drawn me to watch the game happened. I was now a fan
Something that many people, including myself for many years, fail to realize is that football, and really sports as a whole. Is more than just a game. It is the ticket to the land of opportunity for children all over the globe, The escape we all need from the daily duties of work and parenting. In my case, the one thing that can unify even the most contradicting personalities together in a room once a week. Team sports are designed in a way to form a mutualistic bond between its players. Players like Aaron Rodgers have shown that one big time player can keep you afloat in the sea of relevancy, but in most cases nothing more. A receiver cannot reach his full potential without a stable quarterback. Just as a quarterback will never properly showcase his abilities without the right route runners around him. It truly is teamwork at its finest. The players on the field and coaches on the sideline are not the only team. They’re just the only team officially competing. The reality is that the millions of fans at home on Sundays are a part of their own team. A team that does not discriminate against anyone. A team that will never release or trade them as long as time continues.
As NFL opening week approaches at a painfully slow rate, we should all take the time to remember that while we watch our favorite teams battle it out on the field, the team that we as fans are a part of is every bit as important.
-John Peascheck